Allied Participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom

1 Allied Participation in Operation Iraqi FreedombyStephen A. CarneyCenter of Military HistoryUnited States ArmyWashington, , 2011iiiCMH Pub 59 3 1 First PrintingiiiContents PageIntroduction .. viiAllied Participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom .. 1 Overview .. 1 Formation of the Coalition of the Willing, November 2002 March 2003 .. 5 Major Combat Operations: Coalition Forces Land Component Command, March May 2003 .. 6 Combined Joint Task Force 7, June 2003 May 2004 .. 12 Multi-National Force Iraq, May 2004 July 2009 .. 18 Analysis .. 30 Appendix Force Contributions by Nations .. 34 Albania .. 35 Armenia .. 37 Australia .. 39 Azerbaijan .. 42 Bosnia-Herzegovina.

2 45 Bulgaria .. 47 Czech Republic .. 49 Denmark .. 52 Dominican Republic .. 55 El Salvador .. 57 Estonia .. 60 Georgia .. 62 Honduras .. 65 Hungary .. 66 Italy .. 68 Japan .. 71 Kazakhstan .. 74 Latvia .. 76 Lithuania .. 78 Macedonia .. 80 Moldova .. 82 Mongolia .. 84 The Netherlands .. 86 New Zealand .. 90ivvPage Nicaragua .. 93 Norway .. 95 Philippines .. 97 Poland .. 98 Portugal ..101 Republic of Korea ..102 Romania ..105 Slovakia ..108 Spain ..110 Thailand ..113 Tonga ..115 Ukraine ..116 United Kingdom ..119 Further Readings ..125 Abbreviations ..127 Map Symbols ..129 TablesNo.

3 1. Coalition Partners in Iraq, 2003 2009 ..f. 32 2. Unit Rotations, 2003 2007 ..120 Charts 1. Coalition Forces Land Component Command and Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command as of May 2003 .. 8 2. Combined Joint Task Force 7 as of June 2003 .. 15 3. Multi-National Force Iraq as of June 2004 .. 20 4. Multi-National Force Iraq as of June 2005 .. 23 5. Multi-National Force Iraq as of June 2007 .. 25 6. Multi-National Force Iraq as of June 2009 .. 30 Maps 1. Operation Iraqi Freedom , 20 28 March 2003 .. 10 2. Operation Iraqi Freedom , 29 March 1 May 2003 .. 11 3. Operation Iraqi Freedom , Combined Joint Task Force 7, June 2003 May 2004 .. 16 4. Operation Iraqi Freedom , Multi-National Force Iraq, June 2004 May 2005.

4 21vNo. Page 5. Operation Iraqi Freedom , Multi-National Force Iraq, August 2008 .. 28 6. Operation Iraqi Freedom , Multi-National Force Iraq, July 2009 .. 31 IllustrationsGeneral Tommy R. Franks .. 7Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld .. 12 Retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner and Secretary Rumsfeld .. 14 General George W. Casey Jr .. 18 General David H. Petraeus .. 26Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno .. 29 Soldiers from an Albanian Komando regiment provide security along a roadside in Mosul .. 36 Coalition forces commemorate the end of mission for the Armenian contingent .. 38 Australian Army soldiers on patrol in Iraq .. 40An Azerbaijani soldier closes the gate at entry control point 1, Hadithah dam.

5 43 Explosive ordnance disposal soldiers of the Army Forces of Bosnia-Herzegovina prepare the day s find for detonation after a sweep near Tallil .. 46 Czech Republic soldiers explain to an Iraqi Army tank crew member how to zero the T72 tank at the Besmaya Gunnery Range .. 50 During a training exercise on the outskirts of Al Basrah, a Danish Army soldier inspects a target vehicle as other troops prepare to fire their weapons .. 53 Soldiers of El Salvador s Cuscatl n Battalion wait to distribute food at an Iraqi displaced persons camp near Al Kut .. 58A soldier from the 13th Georgian Army Light Infantry Battalion provides security from behind a wall during a patrol through Al Lej.

6 63 Hungarian troops greet Iraqi civilians .. 67 Italian and Iraqi soldiers provide security at a meeting between Italian, Iraqi , and military leaders in An Nasiriyah .. 69A Japan Air Self-Defense Force soldier salutes before opening the gate to a flight line .. 72viviiPageIraqi soldiers pass explosives down to the site of a controlled detonation by Kazakh soldiers and Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal trainees on Forward Operating Base Delta .. Army and Latvian soldiers provide security for a convoy near Tallil .. 77A Lithuanian soldier oversees activity in a market in the town of Ad Dujayl .. 79A soldier from the Netherlands provides force security at Tallil Air Base.

7 88 New Zealand engineers busy at work on the At Tannumah Bridge, Al Basrah .. 91 Norwegian Army troops on patrol in Iraq .. 96A Polish Army unit conducts a convoy briefing before heading out on a mission from Camp Echo .. 99An Iraqi civilian, selected to receive free medical care, is cheered on by soldiers from the Republic of Korea at Camp Zaytun, Arbil .. 103 The color guard for Romania s 26th Infantry Battalion marches during the end-of-mission ceremony at Camp Dracula ..106 Spanish Army soldiers are among the multinational coalition forces watching a ceremony at Camp Babylon ..111 Soldiers from a Ukrainian Army nuclear, biological, and chemical unit discuss their techniques and equipment with coalition partners at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

8 117A British investigator with a joint bomb examination team studies the wreckage from a car bombing near Camp Rashid ..121 All illustrations are from the files of the Department of invasion of Iraq in March 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom was controversial at its start. The United Nations was reluctant to provide a specific endorsement for direct military action. Without this authorization, a number of close allies refused to participate in the Operation . In order to garner greater support and provide an international flavor to the in-tervention, President George W. Bush assembled a coalition of the willing, ultimately involving about sixty nations. Although some of these countries supplied little more than nominal as-sistance, fully thirty-seven of them furnished a total of around 150,000 ground forces from the start of the Operation through July 2009.

9 These troops conducted security operations; provid-ed reconstruction assistance; operated command-and-control headquarters; and fought, were wounded, and killed alongside soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. This temporary alli-ance was more than just a paper coalition; it involved substan-tial and important support from our international partners in helping achieve war aims. It is important that the United States Army and the American people know about and remem-ber the sacrifices of these allies. Allied Participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom highlights a number of key aspects of Allied support to the op-eration. The presence of ground forces from so many coalition partners allowed combat forces to focus their generally su-perior capabilities in more contested sections of the country.

10 This division of labor served American ends while still ensur-ing that our partners performed vital work that fully justified their commitment to Iraq s security. These combined operations also strengthened the ties between countries and improved the quality of interoperability between and coalition troops. Allied support played an important role in stabilizing the situ-ation in short study also underscores the significant challenges that Army planners faced in Iraqi Freedom in integrating a host of different military partners into operational plans. Similar issues of working together in a complex military envi-ronment will doubtless reoccur in future operations, but the benefits of assembling such coalitions will almost certainly out-weigh the problems.